Sneak Peak. Crimson Threads. Roman and Bruce were sort of an item. Kinda. Pre-Birds of Preys.
Obi Wan is reincarnated as Roman
(unedited, wrote it in one sitting)
"Roman." The younger man didn't even bother to lift his head from the pillow nor listening to Bruce, Roman was still lost within his anguish over being kicked out of The Sionis mansion.
It had been three days of languishing in pain and rage, as much as Bruce wanted to allow his childhood friend to process everything in his own way and pace, Roman needed a shower and eat something. There was no way he would allow Sionis to wither right under his watch.
"Fuck off..." Even the cursing held no passion nor rage, its just... Hollow.
Bruce sighed and approached the bed, sitting on the edge and placed a careful hand on Roman's left leg. "You need to wash and eat something, you didn't even touch the anything that Alfred left for you. Not even the water?"
Roman grumbled and shifted, sitting up on the bed. His dark hair was a tangled mess, eyes bloodshot with heavy bags and dark circles underneath them. Unwashed, unstylish and barely coherent. If it was any other day, Roman would have washed himself ten times from head to toes. "I'm not in the mood to eat anything. Fuck, could you just leave me alone?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You are not in the mood to do anything at all, it's been days. Come on, anyone can tell that it wouldn't be good for you to stay in the bed like this for so long."
Roman's face twisted into a scowl, his hands gripping the silk cover tightly.
"You don't know how does it feels to be dropped like trash by your own parents. Sure, they are all assholes. Still! I suffered years of their bullshit to be their perfect son! But a little spending and me getting caught fucking with a man were enough to make me irredeemable in their eyes."
Bruce nodded and patted Roman's covered thighs. "I can't claim that I understand all of your pain. But I get some of it. The loss part, at least. You are not in the wrong for... What happened with your parents. The shame is on them and not you. Who cares if you are into a men as well as women? It's not a huge deal."
Roman snickered and looking away from Wayne. "It's a huge deal for them, hypocritical assholes. Half of my family members in the past are fucking each other to keep the money between family, maybe some of my cousins are still fucking each other. But god fucking forbid that I sucked a cock. That's unforgivable."
"Like I said before, the shame is on them and not on you. But, are you going to let them win just like that?" Bruce question was enough to arouse something within Roman other than depression and disappointment.
Annoyance, anger, confusion. "What?"
Bruce sighed again, tearing his gaze away from his long time friend to stare at the French window in front of him. "It's fine to grieve over this situation. Though, in my opinion, letting them destroying your life even after they cut you off is unfair. They treated you like garbage even when they needed you and now you are no longer a part of their lives, they are still hurting you. Over and over again. Surely, you can't let them keep doing this."
Roman frowned, biting his lips. "The fuck should I do?"
"Try to get better, It'll be alright, I know that you can succeed on your own without Richard or Elizabeth. Even without the Sionis money. You are a resourceful guy and terribly persistent."
"It's easy to preach your bullshit when you are Gotham richest man."
Bruce smiled at him, it was that kind of a smile that made you want to believe in yourself and trusted that everything would be fine. It was warm and genuine. Humane and accepting.
Roman shifted in discomfort, Bruce had always been a better man than him or anyone, so effortlessly decent. A shining light which made Roman flinched and shied away.
"I'll help you, you said something about opening a club right?"
Roman froze, blue-grey eyes widened.
That damn smile widened into a grin which reminded Roman of the younger Bruce who often sneaking out of their campus dorm past curfew to drink and fooling around the town.
Bruce was a bit more fun, of course he still awfully depressed and preachy but less distant and guarded. But back then, the older man was just Bruce... Not the billionaire playboy of Gotham with so many burden and responsibility placed upon his shoulder as the sole inheritor of the Wayne family money and estate.
"I said, I'll help you to open that club you mentioned."
"What do you wanted in return? Also, were you offering this because I let you fuck my ass from time to time? Do you wanted more than just—"
Bruce raised a hand and shook his head almost apologetically. "No, I just want to help you to get back to your feet. That's all."
Roman let out a quiet laugh, it felt absurd. How someone could be so effortlessly decent like Wayne? Especially in Gotham? Out of all places.
"What's so funny?" Bruce asked.
The former Sionis heir shook his head and scooted closer towards Wayne, trailing his—what? Friend? Lovers? Hand in a circular motion. None of them were sure about what kind of a bond they shared or how to define this relationship. Roman stared directly into Wayne's eyes, those blue were a shade darker than his.
A deep shade of blue... Like the ocean.
"Why do you even like me?"
"Come on, do we have to go over this again? You asked that question a thousand times, you are a fascinating person."
"Fucking admit it that I'm a mess."
Wayne grabbed his hand, rubbing his knuckles with a thumb. "As if I'm not a mess myself."
"I trashed your room, cried to you almost five times a week and then pass out from coke."
"You listened to all of my anguish and brooding, and you were so persistent to keep me company after my parents' death," his voice faltered a bit. Wayne still couldn't forget the tragedy. "Even when I pushed everyone away."
Roman rolled his eyes and snatched his hand away, he didn't want to show any indication that what Bruce said touched his dark, twisted heart. "Sappy bastard, I was worried that you might fucking jump from a damn rooftop or something. If you were dead, who will fuck me and buy me all of the nice things? Also you were awfully easy to manipulate to break the campus rules. Can't let you die so soon, Brucey."
Bruce grabbed his other hand, refusing to let go while keeping his eyes locked into Roman's which made Sionis felt like a hypnotized prey, enticed but also sorta terrified. He hated to not be in control and not dominating the situation. Bruce... Brucey could do anything against him, he had both the physical power and the money, even through Roman knew that darling Brucey would never do anything that might harm him.
Still, a paranoid and unstable part of him wanted to run away from everything.
Especially from Wayne's tender gaze, which made Roman feel embarrassed for some unknown reason. Deep down, he knew that he didn't deserve this man... Crazy little Roman with his sick twisted mind didn't deserve Bruce mother fucking Wayne. He didn't.
"So, will you take the offer?"
He didn't deserve it, he shouldn't. But... Wayne was right, he need to get back to his feet.
"I'll be an idiot to not take it."
@wayward-pocket-dimension tagged you since you were interested with the SW and DC reincarnation AU